Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Long established as a standard work, this famous survey explores the history of Africa from earliest times to the end of the colonial period. It is exceptional in its breadth (it provides systematic coverage of the entire continent, including the North), in its range (it establishes a clear political framework, but is still more concerned with social, economic and intellectual trends), and in its quality. Now in this major revision -- the first since 1979 -- its four distinguished authors have reworked, updated and expanded the text, which has also been redesigned and reset.

Synopsis

This study examines African history from the late stone age to 19th-century colonization and African resistance. It includes chapters on: the iron age; Roman North Africa; the rise of Islam; economy, society and language in early East Africa; and social change.

Table of Contents

Preface.1 The Roots of African Cultures.2. Northern Africa in a Wider World.3. Africa North of the Forest in the Early Islamic Age.4. Economy, Society, Language in Early East Africa.5. Political Culture and Political Economy in Early East Africa.6. Africa North of the Forest (1500-1880).7. The West African Coast in the Era of the Slave Trade.8. Equatorial Africa Before the Nineteenth Century.9. Southern Africa to 1795.10. Southern Africa 1795- 1870.11. North Africa in the Shadow of Europe (1780-1880).12. The Commercial and Religious Revolutions in West Africa.13. A Century of Ironies in East Africa (1780-1890).14. Upstarts and Newcomers in Equatorial Africa (1815-1875).15. The European Context.16. The Impact of Europe.17. The Colonial Economy.18. A Clash of Cultures:African Minds in the Colonial Era.19. Social Change in Colonial Africa.20. African Resistance and the Liquidation of European Empire.Index.